Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Jason Kwan

Career Beginnings

I had an intense year in my final year of my undergrad. After graduating in 2010, I took 3 months off to relax and then worked as a busboy at a restaurant for a week. I was fortunate enough to have a former classmate, Richard Chen, contact me about a job opportunity at A.T.S. Electrolube saying that I may be a good fit given my electrochemical expertise. I got the job and worked as a R&D Electrochemical Engineer-In-Training with Colin Oloman, P.Eng, as my supervisor. In about 2 years and 4 months we successfully developed a non-carcinogenic electrolyte alternative for their flagship electro-luber products which is still being used in the field today.

Pursuing a Ph.D and Post-Doctoral Work

I decided to pursue my Ph.D in 2013 with Dr. David P. Wilkinson as my PI and successfully defended in November 2019. I published 5 papers and 1 patent during my Ph.D. I continued to work with Dr. Wilkinson as a post-doctoral fellow from 2019 to 2022. There was an opportunity to collaborate with the National Research Council (NRC) on PEM electrolysis, with a specific emphasis on new iridium catalyst synthesis methods and novel iridium oxide-based membrane structures incorporating a new platinum-based sublayer to enhance catalyst utilization. The objective of this research is to reduce the reliance on precious metal catalysts while simultaneously improving catalyst activity and stability

Transition to Industry and Startups

Around early 2022, I was approached by Anodyne Chemistries to join their startup as their Electrochemistry Lead. I had technical ownership of screening biocatalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂. I oversaw two academic collaborations with UBC (Dr. David Wilkinson and Dr. Dan Bizotto) and made impactful contributions to demonstrating biocatalyst viability in producing formate which was filed in a patent application.

Current Role at ICM

I joined ICM as a Senior Electrolyzer Engineer in May 2024 and have been working there since. My work has been featured in the EarthShot Prize film, highlighting Equatic as a finalist, in a BBC article titled “The controversial machine sending CO2 to the ocean and making hydrogen.”, and will soon appear in Business Insider.

Pivotal Career Moment

The most pivotal moment during my career was halfway during my post-doctoral position with Dr. David Wilkinson. At the beginning it felt very much like my Ph.D with respect to roles and responsibilities, but my responsibilities rapidly expanded to include hiring and supervising co-op students, work with vendors/suppliers on acquiring key equipment or upgrades, and act as a liaison between NRC and UBC on technical progress. This put me in a position where I had to adapt quickly and prioritize tasks instead of just focusing on the research aspects. My role quickly became more managerial in nature but prepared me well for leadership in industry.

“I am forever thankful for how meaningful this experience was and how supportive Dr. Wilkinson was towards my personal development.”

Key Influences During My Time in CHBE

Two aspects of my time in Chemical and Biological Engineering strongly influenced my career trajectory:

1. High Quality Lectures from professors and instructors. Professors that taught us how to think instead of what to think, clearly articulated concepts in a simple way, and genuinely cared about student learning were specific skills that had a strong influence on my career. Dr. Fariborz Taghiour and Dr. John Grace are two professors that come to my mind as exemplars of these traits..
2. Strong Sense of Community: My former classmates had a huge impact on my experience as an undergraduate student. In general, everyone in our year was eager to help each other out and most people valued collaboration. However, our interactions outside the classroom had just as much of an impact as on campus. As a native Canadian I wanted to make sure to share my knowledge of my hometown with visiting students. In return they shared their cultural experiences with me, whether it would be food, activities or values. I keep in contact with many of my undergraduate classmates 10 years later, continuously learning from each other. I would like to acknowledge Alex Chau, Ma Edo Tanjuaya, David Kuan, Richard Chen, and Pak Wang (Andy) Leung as great people who really made a difference in my undergraduate experience.

Future Goals

Moving forward, my goal is to continue building my reputation and personal brand in the clean energy sector by working on high profile clean energy challenges. I could see myself being a consultant or an electrochemical subject matter expert, so working on a wide variety of electrochemical applications and varying levels of technological readiness would put me in a good position to achieve this goal.

Advice for Aspiring Clean Energy Professionals

For students aspiring to follow a similar path in clean energy, here are some key pieces of advice:

• Co-op Program or Internships: Getting relevant work experience during your undergraduate degree gives you a huge head start after graduation. You gain extremely valuable soft skills that are hard to acquire in a classroom such as adapting to a new work site/social environment, tighter deadlines, professional writing, and working with people from all sorts of backgrounds.
• Expand Your Network Strategically: In the classroom, most of you would likely be a similar age and may have similar shared experiences and backgrounds. When I started talking to people of different age groups and backgrounds, I learned more about how they think and digest information. This broadened my perspective on how to tackle problems I previously had a hard time with. The tri-mentoring program at UBC is a great opportunity to expand your network. The EGBC mentoring program can also set you up with a mentor through their system.
• Document Your Experience: Keep a diary or log and revisit it occasionally. I find that people who are able to consistently document their experiences navigate their career more efficiently. It wasn’t until recently I found out I really like failure analysis/diagnostic/commissioning based roles. What led to that realization was that I reflected on my past experiences and made a list of what I liked and disliked about the job. After looking at the sum of all my past work experiences there were patterns that pointed to the same direction.
• Identify What “Currency” You Find Most Valuable: Money is just one form of currency. I also consider learning new skills and networking as valuable alternatives, especially early in your career. In the past, I actively sought roles that offered a clear central goal but also provided opportunities to engage at different levels. For example, my time at A.T.S., my primary role was in R&D, with a heavy focus on lab work and data collection. However, I also gained experience in quality control, mass and energy balance spreadsheeting, testing new equipment, CAD design and patent writing. “In every job, I ask myself this periodically: am I learning something new or earning enough money?” If the answer is neither, it is time to look for a new job.

“Increase your exposure to different environments, adapt, and then reflect.”